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Old 09-06-2017, 10:40 PM   #56
jfjf
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Palm Bch County
Posts: 11,256
Re: Zeagle Regulator Blows at 180 ft

I had a pretty detailed talk with their engineer who looked at the failed regulator. Since it was partially dis-assembled by the local shop, his ability to identify the issue precisely was limited. He said the diaphragm looked pretty old and the edges were torn.

Remember, this was presumably serviced just two years ago by Jupiter Dive Center.

More interesting, is that he says Zeagle no longer support the regulator. They do not sell parts, they do not have a recommended source for parts and I asked about people who had tried to maintain the life time warranty.. What happens to them? He was nice, but said that was a good question.

He explained that the DS-IV was not really made by Zeagle, it was just a rebranded Apex reg that was made for Zeagle. Apparently this is no longer the case with their current regulators, but he said it was true on this particular model.

I asked if he thought maybe people are putting in diaphragms from some older model of Apex? He said he didn't know and had no suggestion on how to service the first stage.

So I said basically all your customers are screwed with a regulator that they can not get serviced since you no longer "support" the regulator ,,, but you have never told your customers this fact?

It obviously makes them vulnerable to technicians who must be using old parts or substituting pieces that are not sourced from Zeagle. Possibly this is what happened to the previous owner of the regulator I bought?

I failed to ask a critical question: When did Zeagle stop supporting this regulator? Perhaps legitimate parts were available 2 years ago when the last service was performed - perhaps not?

It is interesting because I actually have another DS-IV first stage in my regulator box that has not been used for several years. I asked what am I supposed to do with this regulator? Nobody can perform authorized service on it? Answer: "Good question".

I think it is unfortunate that Zeagle would offer a lifetime warrranty and then have a policy that fails to honor it.

So since the regulator was unservicable and they wanted to examine it, they sent me a newer current regulator as a replacement. It looks pretty similar on the outside to me, but supposedly it is different.

I can't complain about how they treated me - especially since I was not the original owner and it was overdue for service, but on the other hand,
it seems that they intend to "take advantage" of their existing customers..at the very least i would think Zeagle would be concerned that their customers are apparently keeping their regs in service by getting maintenance done at dive shops - who must not be using the proper parts.

Maybe there are available some equivalent generic parts that work more or less, but I have to wonder if my failure was associated with this type of situation. In any regard he said "the failed diaphragm was not one of ours".

Also of note, when I took the reg into my local shop, who sells Zeagle, the technician offered to service the regulator for me. I almost agreed to it and then decided to just leave and thanked him for opening it up for me. He also said the diaphragm had failed, but gave no indication about where the replacement parts would come from and did not mention that the regulator was no longer "supported" by Zeagle.

I guess I will start using the regulator, I have always bought used regulators for the last 30 years or so.

Last edited by jfjf; 09-06-2017 at 10:51 PM.
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